


Hearts to Break and Burn, Dirty Hands to Feel the Earth

by blackcatbone



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Hawaiian Hunk (Voltron), M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, POV Hunk (Voltron), What-If, What-If with a twist, written before watching season 2 (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 10:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9381401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackcatbone/pseuds/blackcatbone
Summary: Three years after the night Shiro returned to Earth, Hunk considers the life that his choices have earned him. No career and no future prospects to speak of; blacklisted by the government; his friends off travelling the world, exposing conspiracies and cover-ups, sticking it to The Man. He's in love, though, and that makes all the difference. But not everything is quite as it seems and not everyone is quite so at peace with their choices.Basically: What if the other paladins didn't rescue Shiro from the Garrison, but then there's an additional twist.





	1. Hearts to break and burn

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Warnings for swearing/cursing and verbal violence. Also this is un-betaed, so apologies for any mistakes/inconsistencies that I might have missed.
> 
> 2) Please be aware that this was written before I watched Season 2, so it doesn't really match up with ensuing canon.

Hunk allows the morning light to wake him naturally, slipping out of bed carefully so as not to disturb the other occupant. He heads into the kitchen to fix himself a pre-breakfast of juice and toast. Ambling through to the back room, he sets his plate and glass to one side and presses the various buttons needed to wake up his little cluster of computers. As the various monitors flicker to life and the startup scripts run, a couple of news feeds pop up, along with the video feeds from the three webcams he has set up - in the kitchen, on an outside wall of his little beach hut and on a palm tree a little way down the beach - and finally the login screen for 'the dark web' in front of him. Hunk can never say that out loud with a straight face. It makes it sound like he's using black magic to summon a demon, instead of just checking his email. It's not his fault the US government didn't believe him when he said his law-breaking days were over.

His inbox loads just as something in one of the news feeds catches his eye. He searches frantically for the right mouse and quickly clicks on the story - 'Carrier Pigeon Delivers Message That Spells Trouble For Russia'. There's a video - journalists talking excitedly about dirty state secrets, heads of state condemning this terrorist activity, law enforcement appealing for any information. The usual. Hunk smiles, turning his attention back to his email. As if on cue, a new message from Pidge pops up. There's no text in the body of the email, just a PDF attachment. Pidge often sends him scans of warrants for her arrest in the various countries she visits, like they're postcards.

OK, so _technically_ he did lie about the law-breaking.

Since he was a minor at the time, he managed to get off pretty lightly. He's still on a government watch list, though, and not actually supposed to use the Internet except in public places, not supposed to have a connection at home at all. But being best friends with the internationally wanted cyber-terrorist known as Carrier Pigeon has its advantages. They can't actually say Pidge's real name on the news because that would be tantamount to admitting that they had her and let her get away. And considering all the international upset she's caused since then, that's not something the US government wants to own up to.

There's a certain irony in the fact that, in their efforts to maintain the cover-up of the Kerberos mission, they've managed to motivate Pidge to blow the lid on every other cover-up the world over. And she's really, really good at what she does.

Hunk looks up at the webcam feeds just in time to see Shiro approaching the hut. He was up at dawn again to go for a run along the beach. He prefers to go out when there's no-one around to see him, although he still insists on sweltering in a black long-sleeved shirt, with a matching glove covering his right hand. A few moments later he's entering the room, coming up behind Hunk and kissing his cheek to distract him while he oh-so-casually swipes a piece of toast from Hunk's plate.

"Find anything?" he asks and Hunk turns his attention to the _other_ news feed.

"Not so far. But the day's still young."

Hunk tilts his head back so that Shiro can kiss him properly, on the mouth, before shoving the remainder of the toast into his own mouth. He heads for the bathroom, peeling off his shirt as he goes and affording Hunk with a brief glimpse of his gorgeous back muscles. A moment later, he hears the shower start and Shiro singing quietly in Japanese. Hunk turns his attention back to his work, combing through the news reports on alien sightings, unexplained disappearances, archaeological discoveries. He barely registers when the shower stops and the bathroom door opens, but looks up sharply when he hears a squeal of dismay coming from the bedroom.

He relaxes when Shiro's laughter follows, soon punctuated by "Ow, ow!" and the sound of a pillow colliding with a body. Hunk shakes his head. This isn't the first time Allura has been rudely awakened by Shiro coming fresh from the shower, still dripping wet, and getting back into bed. Half a moment later Allura trails in, wearing one of Hunk's t-shirts, a pair of Shiro's boxers (probably the pair he was intending to wear today) and a scowl. She drags a second chair over so she can sit next to Hunk and rest her head on his shoulder. He smiles fondly as he smooths down a tuft of her short white hair that was sticking up at an angle.

"Hunk, can you please make me breakfast?"

And what's a guy to do but oblige? She _is_ a princess after all. Hunk can hardly believe it's been over a year since he first saw Allura wandering down the beach towards his hut, wide sun hat obscuring her face and flipflops dangling from one hand. After all that time spent listening to Pidge and Keith's endless rantings, he finally had his first alien encounter. The truth was indeed out there, a lot closer in fact than any of them had realised.

The night that the four of them - Hunk, Pidge, Lance and Keith - had gone to try and 'rescue' Shiro, they hadn't found anything because Allura had beat them to it. She'd been on Earth for some time at that point (like, over 10,000 years) but had only recently awakened from cryo-sleep. Her home planet of Altea had been destroyed by a race called the Galra, who were basically intergalactic fascists trying take over the entire universe. When things started to look bad for Altea, Allura's father had sent her to Earth to keep her safe. She was basically a real life Superman, an alien living secretly amongst humans. Which wasn't all that difficult for her, given the Alteans' natural chameleon-like ability to blend in with the locals on whatever planet they're on.

She'd been on the lookout for any Galra activity in Earth's vicinity and had anticipated Shiro's return home the same as Keith and Pidge. During the Kerberos mission, Shiro had been taken prisoner by the Galra, along with Pidge's father and brother. A year later he'd managed to escape and make his way back to Earth, only to find the Galaxy Garrison were more interested in continuing to cover up his disappearance than heeding his warnings about alien invaders. Allura had broken him out of their custody, seeing him as a potential ally against the Galra.

Meanwhile, Hunk and his friends had come up empty as far as Shiro was concerned, but had gained something else. After that night they'd all been recruited to Pidge's quest for the truth. Hunk had learned that Pidge Gunderson was really Katie Holt and how she'd found evidence that the Garrison was lying about what happened on the Kerberos mission. And the glimpse they'd all gotten of Shiro, very much alive and ranting about aliens, seemed to back up her suspicions as to why. In the months that had followed the four of them had really bonded as a team, as they began to uncover more and more inconsistencies in the Garrison's records, evidence of other alien encounters that had been hidden from the public.

When they were eventually caught, more than a year later, they'd been separated and interrogated by at least three different government agencies. Hunk was charged with aiding and abetting in the long list of crimes that Pidge was charged with. Pretty much his entire life had been sabotaged as a result. Expelled from the Garrison Academy, his college and career prospects completely scuppered, he'd returned home to Hawaii. He was basically living off his parents and whatever freelance work he could get as a mechanic-slash-engineer. There had been plenty of moments during that first year when he'd almost regretted his life choices.

But then Allura had shown up. She knew about the four of them, but it wasn't a cyber-terrorist that she needed, it was a mechanic. The Galra had experimented on Shiro, replacing his right arm with a cybernetic Galra-tech one. But they'd gotten into "a spot of bother" recently, as Allura put it, and Shiro's arm had been damaged. She wanted Hunk to repair it, and after hearing the whole story, the truth about the aliens and Shiro, of course he'd agreed to try.

Since then the three of them have grown very close. At this point one of Hunk's moms is convinced that he's dating Allura while the other is sure that he's dating Shiro. And technically they're both right. Hunk still remembers his first kiss with Shiro. He'd just finished up some repairs on Shiro's Galra arm and asked him to test it. Shiro had laced his metal fingers with Hunk's and tugged gently, pulling him off balance so that their faces ended up mere inches apart. Hunk had initially panicked, because he'd been certain that Allura and Shiro were together and he didn't want to come between them. It had taken Shiro some time to convince him that Allura was not only OK with it, but also quite interested in Hunk herself.

He hums a tune to himself while he cooks. The smell of food attracts Shiro, who's now dried off and dressed. He bends down to kiss Allura, who turns her cheek, pretending to still be mad at him. So he tries his luck with Hunk, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing the side of his neck. Hunk is onto him, though, and slaps his hand with the spatula when he tries to steal some of the ingredients for their breakfast. Chastened, Shiro takes a seat at the table to wait. Hunk catches a glimpse of him and Allura pulling faces at one another across the table. To look at them now, you would never guess that one had lost her entire planet, possibly her entire _race_ , forever, or that the other was held prisoner for a whole year, forced to fight for his life and sadistically experimented on.

No, Hunk doesn't regret a single thing.

He looks up when he hears a faint buzzing sound, realising it's his phone. Allura is already up and fetches it for him. Hunk wipes off his hands and checks everything's safe on the stove before taking the phone from her hand. The name on the screen is _delfín_. Hunk blinks in surprise, hesitating to answer. It's been well over a year since he last spoke to Lance directly.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hunk. Been a while. Listen, you've got about ten seconds to get out of there, because she is coming for you and, man, she is _pissed_ -"

Hunk is already walking through to the front of the hut, not bothering to go check the webcam feeds first. Standing in the doorway, he can see Pidge stalking down the beach towards him and Lance, phone in hand, following in her wake. Hunk just stands there, frozen to the spot like a deer in the headlights. The fact that Pidge is in the US (how did she even manage to _get into_ the US?!) is taking a massive risk. If anyone sees her, if anyone sees them _together_ -

"Hunk, you son of a bitch!" Pidge has grown a bit since he last saw her, enough that she can reach his face and slap him. Hard. He shrinks back in shock, clutching his cheek. Pidge's eyes are full of murder as she glares at him. "All this time you knew he was alive, you bastard! How could you not tell me?!"

"I-I'm sorry-"

"You're damn well gonna be-!" Pidge balls a fist to punch him, but luckily for Hunk, Lance has caught up to her now and holds her back.

"Pidge, chill! Just let him explain!"

"Fuck off, Lance," she snarls. "Let me go!"

"Yeah, no. I love you, but that's not gonna happen."

"Pidge, I'm sorry," Hunk tries again. "I don't know what you're talking about-"

"You _knew_ Shiro was alive, you knew _exactly_ where he was, and you said _nothing_ to me."

"How-how did you find out?" Hunk asks shakily.

"Dude." Lance is frowning _hard_ at him. "Have you fucking _met_ her?! I think you have."

Hunk isn't sure where to begin, but then Pidge suddenly stops struggling and stares past him. He turns to see that Allura has just stepped out of the beach hut behind him and she's not hiding her Altean features. He looks frantically between her and his friends. Lance's eyebrows shoot up in an expression of disbelief.

"Who the hell are you?" Pidge demands.

"I am Princess Allura of planet Altea," Allura answers smoothly, putting her hands on her hips. "And you must be Pidge."

"You-you're an-" Pidge stammers.

"Alien," Lance finishes for her. "Oh, _Hunk_. You shacked up with a fricking _alien princess_ and you didn't tell me?!"

"I asked him not to," Allura informs him curtly, probably not too happy about his slightly crude definition of their relationship, "for my own safety and for Shiro's."

This finally seems to calm Pidge's rage. Lance looks impressed. As they start questioning Allura, Hunk turns back to the doorway and notices Shiro hovering just inside.

"Hey, are you OK?" Hunk asks, concerned by the sad look in Shiro's eyes.

"This is all my fault," Shiro says quietly. "I should have contacted Katie the first chance I got. I wouldn't have needed to tell her about Allura. I shouldn't have-"

"It's not your fault," Hunk insists, gently wrapping Shiro up in a hug. "And what's done is done. No point in worrying about it now." When he pulls back, Shiro doesn't look particularly convinced.

"Hunk!" Allura calls to him and he makes his way over. "Your friends have found something. I think... I think it might be what I've been searching for. I had a hunch that my father might have hidden one of the Lions of Voltron here on Earth with me. I think we should go and check it out. Immediately."

Turns out they're going back to the desert and the Garrison Academy, where it all began. And since they can't exactly risk taking a plane or train, it's going to be a long drive. Hunk takes turns at the wheel along with Pidge and Lance. Shiro and Allura can both drive perfectly well, but don't have licenses, fake or otherwise, on them currently and it's not worth the risk in case they get stopped. The long journey does give everyone plenty of time to talk, though. Hunk discovers that Lance and Keith have both been working closely with Pidge for some time now. They separated once they entered the States and Keith has gone ahead, so he should already be there by the time they arrive.

"So, um, what's going on with you and Pidge?" Hunk has been dying to ask ever since their last motel stop. Currently he and Lance are sitting in the front seat, waiting while the others pick up some supplies from a gas station.

"Honestly? When I find out, I'll let you know," Lance says, leaning back in his seat, arms folded behind his head, sunglasses obscuring his eyes.

"But you are, like, together?" Hunk prods. He's not really surprised, given the sort of lifestyle they've apparently been living as fugitives and the fact that Lance is just a naturally affectionate person, but he is curious about the details.

"Yeah, kinda. Sorta. It's complicated. And very new." Lance let's out a nervous little huff. "I really have no idea what I'm doing, but between her and Keith, I've certainly got my hands full."

"I'm sure you're doing fine," Hunk reassures him. Lance gives a disbelieving snort of amusement.

"Uh-huh. Not as fine as you with your cool sci-fi setup. I mean, you scored an alien _and_ a cyborg. That must be like geek jackpot, right?"

"It's not really like that," Hunk says, blushing. "Most of the time they're just like regular people. Only, y'know, people that I'm kinda in love with."

"Well, hat's off to you, buddy, for falling in love with some incredibly hot people."

It's nighttime when they finally arrive at their destination and the desert is freezing cold. Keith is chatting to Allura while they trek out to the cave, trying to describe what they found. When she sees the markings on the cave wall, her face lights up and when she brushes her hand over them, the symbols and drawings light up too. Then the ground opens up and dumps them all down a waterfall. Hunk picks himself up and gasps when he catches sight of the Lion. Allura has described the Lions of Voltron to him before, so he had some idea what to expect, but seeing one in real life is something else. Allura walks right up to it, lightly tapping her fingers against the energy barrier surrounding the Lion. The barrier immediately drops and Hunk sees a vision of the Lions - all five of them - forming Voltron.

"This is it!" Allura says excitedly, as the Lion lowers its head and opens its mouth for them to enter. When they get to the cockpit, Allura takes a seat in the pilot's chair and a heads-up display appears. When she grips the controls, the Lion roars to life, literally. "I'm hoping Blue will be able to help me locate the other Lions. And once we have all five, we'll be able to form Voltron. Then I can finally pay the Galra back for what they did to my people." She turns to look at the assembled team. "Is everyone ready?"

Hunk is _not_ ready. But it doesn't matter, because the moment the Lion takes flight, he wakes up.


	2. Dirty hands to feel the earth

Hunk breathes heavily, feeling panic rising in his chest as he finds himself trapped under a medical scanner. Thankfully Coran has noticed him and quickly lets him out. Hunk sits up, his head reeling, staring wide-eyed at the interior of the Castle-ship.

"What-what just-?"

"It's alright," Coran assures him, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder. As Hunk looks around the room, the others start to wake up. He rushes to help Coran release them. They all look just as shellshocked as Hunk feels. Coran explains that the Galra used some kind of new weapon to incapacitate them all, so that they wouldn't be able to get to their Lions or open a wormhole to escape. Hunk vaguely remembers when it hit. And then...

But it doesn't matter. Right now they just need to get to their Lions and get out there to fight the Galra. Their enemy was relying on the effects of the weapon keeping the Paladins out of action, so once they form Voltron the battle doesn't last long. As soon as they're back on the ship afterwards, everyone scatters to their own rooms. Hunk flops on his bed, exhausted but unable to sleep.

His mind struggles to grasp the twin realities. Really, he thinks, he should've seen this coming. In pretty much every sci-fi or fantasy show he's ever seen there's always been that one episode where the villain tries to take the hero off the board using some fake reality. There's the 'really you're just crazy' version, where the hero wakes up in a mental hospital or something, with everyone telling them that the real world is just a delusion that they need to let go of if they want to get better. And then there's the 'perfect fantasy where everyone gets to live happily ever after' version, where the fake reality is so much better that the shitty real world and the hero is tempted to stay there forever.

Neither scenario really fits here, though. Hunk knew he wasn't crazy and the aliens were entirely real. And it wasn't exactly a perfect fantasy either. Sure, there were definitely parts that he liked - his relationship with Shiro and Allura for one, plus not being at war or stranded on the other side of the universe from his home planet. But Altea was still destroyed, Sam and Matt Holt were still missing, Hunk's career had been effectively flushed down the toilet and his friends were fugitives from the US government.

Maybe he's overthinking it? Coran said he thought the aim was simply to stop them from forming Voltron or escaping, so that they'd be stuck and virtually defenceless. Was that all it was? Just a scenario where they never found Blue and so never reached the Castle or the other Lions, never joined the war? They might never know for sure.

He looks up at the sound of a knock on his door. Opening it, he finds Shiro standing outside.

"Can I... Can I talk to you?"

"Of course."

Hunk ushers him inside and they both sit down on the edge of the bed.

"I was wondering just how much you remembered of... what happened, in that other reality? The others didn't say much but it seems like we were all experiencing the same thing, from our own perspectives. So, I was wondering - well, _hoping_ , really - that you remembered some of it, because I do and I-"

Hunk reaches out and takes hold of Shiro's cybernetic hand, lifting it up and lacing their fingers together. He tugs gently but firmly, pulling Shiro close.

"I remember everything."

Shiro's face breaks out in a familiar grin right before he kisses Hunk. And it's just as tender as the first time. Although, actually, Hunk realises, it _is_ the first time. When he pulls back, Shiro looks into his eyes and _god_ it feels so familiar. He feels like he _knows_ Shiro, intimately, and knowing that it's not technically true doesn't make it feel any less real.

"Will you come and talk to Allura with me?" Shiro finally asks.

The princess's bed ends up being kind of crowded, but Hunk really doesn't mind. He falls asleep easily in her arms and wakes later to find Shiro still happily curled against him. If not for his growling stomach, Hunk thinks he might've been content to stay there forever. Shiro groans in complaint when Hunk gets out of bed, but it quickly turns to peals of laughter as Allura starts tickling him. Hunk has a big stupid grin on his face as he makes his way to the kitchen.

When he walks in, Lance is already there, standing by the counter stirring a bowl of food goo and looking kind of lost. Hunk greets him warmly, humming to himself as he starts getting things out of cupboards. He doesn't have access to any of the stuff he did back on fantasy Earth, but he's sure he can still whip up a decent breakfast. Lance is unusually quiet, occasionally glancing up to see what Hunk is doing, but he does at least manage a couple of mouthfuls of food.

When Shiro shows up (right on cue, like he has some kind of sixth sense for when breakfast is ready), he greets Lance with a friendly "good morning" before coming up behind Hunk and wrapping his arms around his waist. Hunk turns his head to kiss him and catches sight of Lance's face out of the corner of his eye.

"Lance? You OK there, buddy?" he asks, worried.

"Not really, no."

"What's wrong?" Shiro asks, frowning in concern as he releases Hunk and steps back.

"You..." Lance abandons his food, throwing up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Could you two _not_ do that?"

"Do what?" Shiro presses, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Look, I know it was all long walks on the beach for you guys, but some of us are just trying to forget it ever happened. Or that we ever dreamed it or whatever. Which is kind of hard with you two acting all..." He trails off, gesturing vaguely at the two of them.

"Happy?" Shiro suggests sarcastically, folding his arms across his chest. Hunk knows that tone. Shiro is about to lose his cool. Lance looks wounded.

"Just stop acting like it's normal! You're seriously freaking me out. You can't just suddenly start doing shit because it happened in a coma. It's not OK."

"Oh, grow up!" Shiro snaps and Hunk winces. "It's making you uncomfortable? Well, god forbid I actually get to do anything that's not taking care of your sorry ass!"

"You have no idea-"

"No, _you_ have no idea what it's like having to deal with your constant whining and endless pissing contests with Keith. I'm taking my comfort where I can get it. You don't like it? Well, guess what? Life isn't tailored to your fucking specifications."

Lance is actually in tears and Hunk really can't blame him.

"You know what? Fuck you."

Lance runs out and Hunk turns to glare at Shiro. Despite his anger, he clearly knows he's in the wrong, because he won't meet Hunk's eyes. Abandoning the breakfast, Hunk hurries to follow his friend.

"Lance! Lance, wait!"

"Leave me alone, Hunk," Lance calls back over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Hunk says as he catches up. Lance whirls around, face filled with anger.

"Don't you dare apologise for him! Stop acting like you're part of a freakin' hive mind with no will of your own!"

"Lance, I-" Hunk swallows thickly. "I'm just trying to understand what happened. You barely spoke to me for two years."

"You don't know what it was like," Lance says darkly. "The things I did, the things I said, what it did to my family. Keith can barely stand to be in the same room with me. And Pidge, Pidge won't even look at me-"

"What happened with Pidge? Did-did you guys have sex?"

"No!" Lance snaps desperately. "Nothing happened, OK?! Because none of it was real! Just... just leave me alone, OK, Hunk?"

"OK," Hunk agrees quietly as Lance walks away. He watches his friend's retreating form for a while then turns and slowly heads back to the kitchen. Shiro's no longer there. Hunk decides to clean up the kitchen first before going to find him. He needs time to think.

Once he's done, he goes to Shiro's room and finds him sitting on the bed, leaning back against the wall.

"Hey, Hunk," he says tiredly. "I... guess we should talk?"

"Yeah, I think so. Lance was pretty upset."

"Is he going to be OK?" Shiro asks, looking guilty.

"I think he will be. He just needs time." Shiro nods, then looks momentarily lost in thought. "What you said, is-is that how you really feel? Do we all just seem like whiny babies to you?"

"No, of course no-" Shiro stops, shaking his head. "You know, if I'm going to be serious about this relationship then I really should start treating you more like an equal. And that means not lying to you."

"Go on," Hunk says, bracing himself.

"Sometimes I feel like the four of you just treat me like a surrogate dad. And that you think it's OK to act like children, because I'm always there to be the adult. But you're not children any more, Hunk. And I'm nobody's father. I don't have all the answers, I don't always know what to say or do. These past three years I've been trying so hard to be a good leader and I've neglected what I want for myself.

"But when we were _there_ , I could finally sleep. It took some time, but with Allura and then you, you banished my nightmares. You healed me. It was amazing. And when we woke up back here, I realised just how exhausted I was in reality. Last night was the longest and most peaceful sleep I've actually had in four years. And I know it wasn't real, but that other 'reality' wasn't preprogrammed by the Galra. It came from our minds, our hearts. These feelings didn't just come out of nowhere. They're not new. I just never said anything, because-because... I don't know."

"I don't want to let it go either," Hunk says. "Last night was so good and it _was_ real. And it seems like Allura feels the same way we do. But the others... It was different for them. I don't know exactly what they did after we were separated, we always kept communication to a minimum in case it was intercepted, but Lance is really spooked. Pidge has been really distant since we 'woke up'. And I know Keith has always had a slightly complicated relationship with his 'feelings'..."

"Heh, yeah." Shiro smiles slightly.

"I'm not a leader _or_ a therapist, but I think they need time to process all this, in their own time."

"I think you're right." Shiro holds out his hands and Hunk takes them in his own, squeezing gently. "So how do we play this?"

A few weeks later, Hunk wakes with the light of the artificial morning generated by the Castle. He's still tired but doesn't feel like he can sleep any more right now. One of Zarkon's generals, who they'd not previously had the 'pleasure' of encountering, tried to surround them with Galra forces, trapping the Lions in the narrow orbit between a planet and its moon. Voltron still emerged victorious, but after many hours of continuous combat, they were all completely exhausted.

Hunk leaves Shiro still sleeping and heads for the kitchen. Since their talk and subsequent discussion with Allura, they've been trying to keep their relationship a bit more lowkey, for the sake of the others. It's meant a bit of sneaking around and avoiding public displays of affection, but Hunk thinks that maybe that's not such a bad thing. After all, Allura is still a princess and Shiro is still their team leader.

And it does seem like things are starting to settle down again. Keith was the first to open up, much to everyone's surprise. He talked to both Hunk and Allura, finally filling in some of the gaps in their knowledge about what life was like for him, travelling with Pidge and Lance, constantly looking over his shoulder and always having to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Turns out the life of an internationally wanted cyber-terrorist and her accomplices was not quite as glamorous as it might've sounded.

Then Pidge eventually confided in Shiro and Lance talked to Coran. Apparently Lance was feeling a lot of guilt over some of the things he'd 'done' in the other reality and even more because he didn't regret some of the things he felt he should. Pidge seemed to be struggling more with the gap between actual reality and the imagined one, particularly when it came to her relationships with her teammates. Whereas Hunk, Shiro and Allura had embraced their sudden intimacy like a gift, the other three had been jarred by the emotional whiplash of it. They'd needed to shut down just to stop their worlds from spinning for a moment.

When he enters the kitchen, Hunk finds Keith and Allura sitting by one of the counters. They both smile at him when they look up.

"Keith and Lance were thinking of going down to the planet to stretch their legs," Allura says, looking quickly at Keith.

"We were wondering if you'd like to join us?" Keith says, looking hopefully at Hunk.

"Uh, well, I'd like to, but I think one of us should stay here so there's someone here when Shiro wakes up."

"Coran can keep an eye on him," Allura reassures him. "And I don't think we're going to be gone long."

When they get down to the planet, Hunk is pleasantly surprised to find that it looks very similar to Earth. One particularly nice side-effect of them all sharing the fake reality has been that Allura is now familiar with their home planet in a way that she never could've been with just their descriptions to go on. Hunk kind of wishes they could have had the reverse with Altea, but he's not about to call the Galra back to put the whammy on them all over again.

He walks side by side with the princess in comfortable silence. The others walk ahead of them, with Lance and Pidge, who was also persuaded to come with them, in front and Keith hanging back a little just behind the two of them but nevertheless sticking close enough to keep an eye on them. Hunk can see Pidge talking animatedly, gesturing with her hands, and Lance laughing in response. Hunk's not sure, but he thinks she might be recounting their most recent battle, judging by some of the hand-waving.

After a while, he sees Pidge reach out and take hold of Lance's hand. Despite the distance, Hunk can see him visibly tense up and behind them Keith's form also stiffens, like he's anticipating trouble. But Pidge keeps walking, and talking, and after a few steps Lance seems to relax again. Keith comes to a stop, studying the pair for a moment before glancing back at Hunk and Allura. He smiles a small smile and Hunk returns it. He thinks maybe they're all going to be OK.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) If you enjoyed the story please comment and say so!
> 
> 2) Story/chapter titles are from 'Dead Man (Carry Me)' by Jars Of Clay.


End file.
